In the last 20 years, nearly 2,000 exoplanets have been discovered and that number will continue to grow rapidly. Several of these planets are potentially capable of harboring life.

In addition, there have been numerous space missions to bodies within our solar system that have greatly increased our knowledge of these relatively close worlds. Two have recently been in the news: New Horizons, which flew by Pluto and its moons and Rosetta, which has been exploring Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

In 2012 he received a Humboldt Research Fellowship award, which he used to spend 2013–14 in Germany at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg and the University of Tuebingen.

Division F promotes studies of planetary systems

Division F deals with our solar system, extrasolar planetary systems and astrobiology. It promotes studies of planetary systems, including our own, aimed at the understanding of their formation and evolution, from the point of view of the dynamics and of the physics, as well as of the occurrence of conditions favorable to the development of life in the universe. It also promotes the dissemination of reliable physical and dynamical data about astronomical objects in our solar system and other planetary systems and oversees the assignment of proper nomenclature and discovery credits, where appropriate.

The IAU will be holding its triennial General Assembly at the Honolulu Convention Center August 3–14. More than 2,500 astronomers from 75 countries are expected to attend.